There are a lot of hidden gems in the Delta. Cleveland is one of them, but there are others. The trick is finding them. Take the Jim Henson Museum, also known as the Birthplace of Kermit the Frog. A little known fact is that Henson was born in Leland, Mississippi and spent most of his…
For some time, probably about two weeks at least, one of the lights outside my apartment was out. You see my front door leads directly outside into a little alcove. Across from me is my next door neighbor, an older woman, and a set of steps leading upstairs. You can see this more clearly in…
Mississippi is one of the fattest state in the nation. I think I’ve found one of the reasons why. Nobody walks anywhere around here. People will literally drive around the block. And they don’t seem to carpool much either. At any given festival the ratio of cars to people will probably be not far from…
This week was a strange one. Not only was it cold, but there was some actual winter precipitation down here. By that I mean freezing rain, sleet, and even a little snow. While the Delta didn’t have it as bad as Georgia and the Carolinas it was enough to close Delta State for two days…
Everybody has a different way of speaking. The language we learn, the place we grow up in, and the culture we are from all affect how we talk. So someone from New York does not sound the same as someone from Mississippi, for example. Speech patterns, words, all that sort of thing are very different…
This semester marks my return to the classroom. Not as a teacher, but as a student. You see a major goal of mine is to learn programming. Code Academy helps but there is no substitute for classroom instruction. So I decided to take advantage of my faculty status and audit one of Delta State’s computer…
Since moving to Mississippi I’ve spent most of my time around Cleveland, only venturing out when travelling to Jackson or Memphis. But there’s a lot of land in between those places. Sometimes I’ll be driving down Highway 61 and see a plume of smoke in the distance and wonder what it’s all about (more on…
In the past I’ve mentioned how life is slower down here. People like to stop and chat. Businesses are generally not open after regular business hours (although Saturdays are something of an exception in some cases). Sundays are generally devoted to church and watching the game. And at work the general attitude is “well…
Everybody knows that the weather is warmer down South. Summers are hotter and winters are mild. Mississippi is no exception. A friend of mine said the heaviest jacket I would ever need is a fleece. For me, the idea that there would be a winter with no snow and not even a frost was…
You may have noticed a distinct lack of posts to this blog recently. The reason is that, since December 20th I have been back in New York. Travelling home gave me the chance to visit family and old friends, see a movie or two, go out to eat, and simply have a good time….